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Armoured Ground Cricket

Last year May we say millions of them in Kruger. They were in the Satara vicinity. It was a mission to try and ride over as few as possible on the road. They were on a suicide mission. Funnily enough not many came into the camp.

There was an insert in 2003 on 50/50's VeldFocus about these Crickets. This person also saw 'millions' in KNP.

Interesting and also a question.

Most of the time that I had expereinced this march of the crickets and millipedes was after there had been rain.

My question: why do the chamelions also come to the road after rain?

I must say that the ground hornbills and hornbills didn't complain about this take-away...

Here's a picture I took of one at Timbavati picknick spot:

During our March 08 trip we found 'locusts' all the way from Satara to Mopani. They were everywhere in the road and we had to dug and dive to not drive over them. It was a terrible trip, a hell of a headache by the time we got to Mopani.




Does anybody know anything about this 'locust' except that they are enormous?

We also had the same problem.
These are armoured crickets, we even saw live ones eating the dead ones that had been run over

Armoured Ground Cricket.

Saw millions of them once in the Satara area. Was in May 2003.

I'm sorry that it has taken 15 years for me to ask this question. On my one and only visit to Kruger Park in 1993 we were driving late in the afternoon on a minor road. We became aware that we were surrounded by a "sea" of large insects walking slowly across the road and surrounding scrub.

Not one of us thought to take a photograph!

These were quite big, about the size of a matchbox and rectangular in body-shape. I can't remember the antler configuration but there was a marked co-movement of opposing pairs of legs giving them a mechanical look. I talked to an entomologist friend when we got back to UK and he suggested a Goliath Cricket.

Can anyone make any suggestions, please?

Hello and welcome peterhare

You don't mention the time of year of your visit, but to me your sighting sounds suspiciously like Armoured Ground Cricket. They do travel in hordes certain times of the year.

Yes, I think that Jose is spot on!

Armoured crickets have a bizarre and striking way to avoid being eaten.

To become unpalatable, the insects squirt toxic blood out of gaps in their body and make themselves sick by throwing up food they've just eaten.
Sometimes the crickets squirted their own blood up to 6cm.

"The blood is pale green and rather acrid smelling. I couldn't bring myself to actually taste it fresh but it leaves an acidy, tobacco-like taste on your fingers if you do not wash it off," he says.

Read the whole story...

Need some help please from the pros on these critters please. Forgot to ask for help while I was there for these 3 and i am fresh out of insect reference literature!

This colourful corn cricket type on the pool fence at Letaba. Body maybe 30mm long max. Smaller than his KTP counterparts by some margin but not sure if this one is typical example or not





Thanks all

No amateur entomologists willing to take a stab and put me out of my ID misery.....Please

Hi AjayB. The second one looks to me like an Armoured Cricket. Somewhere between mid to late stage. Third one you're on your own. Unfortunately my books are sitting in a shipping container.